Seeing Inside

By Katharine Miller

The bright light needed to see molecular activity inside a living cell can quickly alter or even halt the very thing scientists want to observe. But a new technique developed by Eric Betzig, PhD, Group Leader at the Janelia Research Campus, offers fantastic 3-D resolution of living cells for longer time periods without phototoxicity. Called lattice light-sheet microscopy, the technique uses ultrathin light sheets derived from two-dimensional optical lattices. Rapidly scanned plane-by-plane through the specimen, these light sheets provide excellent illumination with minimal damage to the cell. Betzig, who won the 2014 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for other work, calls lattice light-sheet microscopy “the high-water mark” of his career.